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Hello, I flew the sled for the second time today and I'm totally hooked . Man it flys great and pulls but not too hard to handle. The wind was again light though so we'll see when it picks up to say 20 or so . It pulls a three legged drone and a small Pirahna drone and some ribbon tails but for now thats all I have for it . Well it's going to rain for a few days so it's play indoors i guess....All the best Tom

Hello again, Today was a cloudy day but we did manage to get a few hours of flying in before the rains came. I was a little worried about electricity in the sky because I don't know that much about kites and lightening but I don't want to do a Ben Franklin thats for sure. Anyway we did something cool with the sled 40 sq. foot today . We got 4 rolls of security ribbon thats 1 1/4" x 150 feet ant 4 different colors and put them on a broom handle and tied them to the sled and let them unroll as it went up. All went well dispite the fact that the rolls tend to overspin and tangle but we did manage to get all four completly unrolled and flying. That was cool . We plan on doing some lighting experiments with LED's and tiny batterys in the near future. We'll try and do some video soon ...Tom

Hello again , I wanted to use 500 ft. of braided 300 pound test line but David G. told me that 200 p/line was plenty good for a 40 square ft. kite so thats what I got. I have flown it on 100 p / line on a light wind day and it didn't pull hard at all and seemed fine. I did learn a lesson about kite line and finger burns when the kite launched pretty good and line went out fast and I was having trouble with the stupid (cheep) winder that I got and ended up with a good burn on the index finger from the nylon pulling out at speed thru the zone . That winder has got to go as soon as I can afford a good one. What type do you all use? I have some 80 lb. line on one of those round ring type things for my Delta (small )kites that is alot easyer to use except when it's almost full and tends to miss the spool at times as I try and wind it up. I'm in a steep learning curve with all this and need all the advice I can get......One thing I like is the ribbon tails . They look so cool as they flow behind the kite just cascading along and giving a great sence of flow and depth to the over all picture. The tails are cheep at the local Farm and Fleet store , 2 bucks a roll of 150 ft. in several colors but, and it's a BIG BUTT, when you are all done and have to pack it up it ends up a tangled mess. I have been trying to stuff it in pares into plastic groser bags and then tie the ends to the top of the bag ,but it still gets a tangle and ends up a hassel to use over. I meen it is almost disposible at those prices but seems a waste to just trash it after one fly...so I'm still looking for an easy way to store it for next time...I was late to the field today and finally got the kite up at 5:30 pm and no sooner had the thing gained some altitude someone turned the wind off and the kite dumped and fliped over to drop 150ft. or so to the earth....End of day....I was thinking about that on the walk back to my car and I realized the Deltas seem to fly there way down but the sled just dumps and drops out of the sky....Well gotta sleep tomorrow is supposed to be good wind....Tom

Tom, You could cut some flat card winders out of stiff cardboard for your tails. At 12" long you would wind a foot every time you turn it. Little wings on the sides at the ends would keep it on the winder. The tape may be cheap, but PLEASE don't contribute to our disposable, trash generating society. And stay away from the lightning.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing with the winders only I was going with wood ones made myself. I agree fully about trashing them into the landfill being a no no... All plastics go in the recycle box around here and are turned into park benches and deck lumber that lasts hundreds of years etc. The local Martin's Grocery store has a collection bin for plastic bags that will also take other types of bag(plastic) etc. The benches outside there store are made from the bags.( big sign explaining all about it ) We use the canvas bags though....All in all I agree with you 100 5 . We need to leave this place better than we got it for the sake of our childrens childrens children....Tom

To eliminate the finger burns , get a fairly good pair of heavy work gloves. That's what several veteran single-line flyers recommended to me. It does help a bunch.

Also, the large ring type line holders are good for keeping line. However flying a kite out to 500 feet would take a long time to bring down. Most flyers only put a kite up to 100 to 150 feet. On the take down, they spool in about 75 feet or so and them walk the kite down to the ground. Once on the gound, the flying line will be detached, the kite rolled up, and then the flyer spools in the rest of the line.

It's much easier that way because you aren't working against the pull of the kite.

Thanks for the tips you guys . I really appreciate the help and advice. I was looking at a pair of mechanics gloves at the Auto-Zone store and they look like just the ticket. They are tough but still have a sence of touch that I like. Much better than the regular work gloves that tend to leave me fumbling with the line and unable to do small objects well. So and so and so...I have a couple of small (pocket) parafoils and today the air was very active as a storm was aproaching and the winds were blowing wildly. The storm off in the distance I got out one of the foils and tied a line to it and when I let her go she snaped to attention and was full of wind and pulling like a plow muleHolding her at about 10 feet I was able to study the kite and get a full apreciation of just how a kite works , a foil anyway , and standing there studying the thing I was amazed at the thing. I'm not sure I can say what I mean here. Needless to say I learned alot about the parafoil . I wanted to put more types of kites up at 5 feet to study at speed just what is going on with them. It's alot like wind tunnel testing I suppose.... Really neat and informative....Tom

we call it the huge grin effect Tom and if I was you and are flying heavy Pulling sled I go with the real heavy work gloves . I like the machinces glove also but they will burn through from line rather quickly Glad your having fun but be very carful with stroms rolling in they could get ya fast have fun and be safe

Ah Yes safty can be an issue with kites. Danger can sneak up on you when least expected. I grew up the only son of a safety inspector. In fact my dad was the Deputy Director of Industrial Safety for the District of Columbia In Washington D.C.But it's good to be reminded. Thanks. Now the gloves. Do you think if I was to reinforce the mechanics gloves with leather across the inside of the fingers and part of the palm ? ? ?Maybe a pair thats the best of both worlds. I really hate those heavy leather ones . I just can't feel the world around me.........I'll work on a pair and then it's just a matter of getting a friend to try them out! Well I'm off the try out a kite with a three legged drone tail . We are on the back side of the rain storm and the wind has picked up and looking at the radar I see about a two hour window so I gotta go......Thanks again ......Tom in W.V.eastern panhandle..............

As has been said above, you want gloves with real leather palms and bottoms of the fingers. An additional layer can be a good thing, too. No synthetic material on the working side as it can burn through / melt with the heat of the line friction. Then your fingers are next with that melted stuff on your skin. Don't underestimate the effects of the friction. It'll even burn through leather eventually.

Consider sailing gloves for the feel. The tips of the fingers are uncovered for dexterity but most of the finger is protected. But be careful even with those.

I wear my gloves when putting up or taking down a SLK, or working the line length. Take them off if you want when tying your fly line to the bridle, packing away, or any other time you're not working the line under tension. But keep 'em in your back pocket for instant access.

What Bob said - 100%. You can get the sailing gloves with full fingers also. I have burned my finger tips a couple of times with the tip-less type, still prefer them as you have more dexterity. With my larger kites, 300# line and up, I lay out the line and tie it off, then launch the kite and walk the line back to the anchor. Hoop winders are really good for getting line both in and out, but heavy lines can fill one up very fast. Have fun, which ever way you go!

These are the standard ones, but Petzl also makes a slightly heavier weight version.

Run around $25-30

Back breathes nicely for warmer days.

Easy to source from REI, EMS, Campor, AltRec, Amazon, etc.

FWIW: It is amazing how fast the gloves made with synthetic palms/fingers will melt. They might be fine for general abrasion (and even that is dubious.... convinced it's more of a cost thing). The will not hold up to fast moving line.

Well I had a heck of a time yesterday at the field. I mostimes start the day with a smaller Delta and work my way up to the bigger kites and sleds. To begin on this day I flew a small parafoil and then went right to the S/Sled with drone and a few pices of line laundry.I had it up at about 100 feet or so and tied it off to thetwo ground stakes that I had planted in the ground. All was well so I turned my back and was fumbling around in my bag looking for something and wasn't paying enough attention cause while all this was giong on the kite had slipped off two of its loops of line and was now taking line at a pretty good clip and was out to 300 feet or so (500 ft. line)So I grabed it and up she went in a fast climb. And I do meen fast . That was just about the time the wind picked up to 25 - 30 and all of a sudden I had a heart bounding rush as the kite ,with a mind of its own ,became a real true hand full. What a rush that all was . The field is shorter in that direction and the kite was in danger of crossing a road so required action on my part . Well like I said it went up at a high rate of speed and drew away from the road but was now higher than I've ever flown before. So at this point I caught my breath and was thinking this ain't so bad ....High ...But ...well ...OK ....So now for just a second all seemed ok but then I turned to see the sorce of the increase in wind speed .....Black clouds just cresting North mountain 15 miles behind me and comming my way ...fast... as in just a few minutes they'll be here....so I tied the kite off again to the ground stakes and was just leaving to walk it down when I noticed the line , pulling a ton now , was pulling the stakes up a bit at a time with each gust....Time to try out emergency procedure for getting a kite down fast. I quickly hooked the 6" carb . to the line and ran pulling line down on a 45% angle and sure enough the sled dumped air and came down 100 feet or so as I slowed my pace to a walk , BUT NO! it righted and reserected and shot up pulling like a raging bull so I took off running and it dumped again and this time it tangled its bridle lines and came all the way down . I scrambled to get everything picked up and ran to the car stuffing it all in and only just getting wet as the rain started....Whaaa Huuuuuu what a day!!!!!What a Beautifulllllllllll DAYYYYYYYYY Now that was excitement Kite Flying at its best... My heart was a pumpin' Who says single line ain't fun.....WOW ....Tom

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